Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
Global
What is it?
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organization that recognizes and rewards efforts to protect oceans and safeguard seafood supplies for the future.
- Principle 1: Sustainable target fish stocks
- Principle 2: Environmental impact of fishing
- Principle 3: Effective management
- Certified supply
- Identifiable
- Separation
- Traceable and recorded
- Good management
What is it?
The MSC Fisheries Standard is used to assess if fisheries are well-managed and environmentally sustainable.
The MSC Fisheries Standard is comprised of the following core Principles:
A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to overfishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery.
Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function, and diversity of the ecosystem on which the fishery depends. The ecosystem includes habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species.
The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national, and international laws and standards, and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require the use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable.
What is it?
Certification to the MSC Chain of Custody standard allows businesses to demonstrate that their seafood is from a sustainable source and that it has been correctly labeled and separated from non-certified products throughout the supply chain.
There are five principles that every company must meet to achieve certification:
There are three versions of the MSC Chain of Custody Standard, which include different requirements to meet the needs of different types of businesses. It consists of one default version, along with Group and Consumer Facing Organisation (CFO) versions.
A guide to the chain of custody certification including which version is appropriate for different types of organizations is available here.
What is it?
Fisheries in FIPs can take part in the In-Transition to MSC (ITM) program.
The ITM program aims to support fisheries that are committed to achieving MSC certification and are making improvements to their environmental performance. Entering the program will require independent verification of your fishery’s eligibility and continual progress.
All verification is carried out by accredited independent organizations called Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs).
The program requires fisheries to seek regular independent verification of the improvements made as they progress towards meeting our Standard. This will enable fisheries to demonstrate the credibility of their commitment to sustainability.
The In-Transition to MSC program is in a pilot phase until the end of 2024. During this time, the details of the program – including cost and terms of participation – are subject to change.